Allen Mountain
June 30,
2019
Mountain
height: 2858 m
Elevation
gain: 1371 m
Ascent
time: 5:30
Descent
time: 4:10
Scrambling with Raff.
Having recently purchased several volumes of Blake
Passmore’s terrific guidebooks for Glacier National Park, Montana, it was time
to give them a quick workout. This five volume set is an excellent supplement
to the informal “bible” of the area, Gordon Edwards’ A Climber’s Guide to
Glacier National Park – as legendary a guidebook for the northern American
Rockies as Alan Kane’s Scrambles is for the southern Canadian Rockies.
For the day’s enjoyment we picked Allen Mountain, via the
Snow Moon Basin Route – recommended by both Edwards and Passmore. Here’s a summary of our day:
Highlights:
1.
The amazing view of Mount Gould, Grinnell
Point, Mount Wilbur and several others reflected in the still waters of Swiftcurrent Lake, near the trailhead.
2.
A remarkable trail that traverses the
seemingly untraversable north side of Allen. Many thanks to the goats who probably
made the trail and deep bow to the humans who found it!
3.
Two beautiful lakes (Falling Leaf and Snow
Moon), providing a terrific rest spot before embarking on one of the
“lowlights”.
4.
Colourful rock everywhere.
5.
The exciting “Great Break route” up to the
ridge.
6.
Outrageously stunning and colourful views
upon reaching the summit ridge.
7.
Sweet mountain lakes everywhere.
8.
More outrageously stunning views while
traversing the ridge to the summit.
9.
A totally killer summit view with, yes,
colouful mountains and beautiful lakes everywhere.
10. Almost perfect weather throughout.
Lowlights:
1.
A long and very foreshortened slog to the
summit ridge.
2.
An unexpected storm system that came out of
nowhere. It actually snowed for a few minutes.
Glacier National Park continues to impress me in ways
that I cannot effectively express in words. Fantastic route on a fantastic mountain.
Thank you Dr. Edwards and Mr. Passmore.
Great start to the day - Gould, Grinnel Point, Swiftcurrent, and Wilbur reflected in Swiftcurrent Lake.
Raff ascends pretty stable scree on the north side of Allen
Interesting pattern in Lake Sherburne
Three of my favourite scrambles of all time: Henkel, Altyn, and Appikuni
The goat trail around the north side is not without some exposure
Approaching Schwab Falls
Looks like it's going to be a colourful rock day
Approaching Falling Leaf Lake. The summit of Allen Mountain at the left.
Classic Glacier Park rock
A snow bank still covers the stream joining Falling Leaf Lake to Snow Moon Lake
Raff crosses the outlet of Snow Moon
The peak behind is an outlier on Allen's north side. As Dr. Edwards states Allen is a HUGE mountain!
The views start to open up to the northwest. Wilbur, Ipasha, and Merrit can be seen.
Hiking towards the summit block under increasingly cloudy skies
Colourful Cracker Lake below Mount Siyeh
What happened to the perfect weather forecast?!
Just before it hit the fan - ie. snow on the last day of June!
Thankfully, the storm passed by quickly and we were able to resume the ascent. Raff looking for a way up.
He picked this one
Love Glacier cairns! The storm is heading east very quickly
Typical scrambling terrain
Raff found a route on the other side of the ridge to circumvent some of the difficulties
Back to the right side of the ridge and again looking for a way up. Spot Raff on the face.
There is a little exposure to deal with here, but like Crypt Peak, the slopes look worse than they are
Mount Jackson, another GNP favourite, peaks over the ridge
Back on the upper ridge, the scenery is about to get lake crazy!
Siyeh, Jackson, and snow
5 visible lakes here to the north and northeast
Add another to the northwest
Summit (far left) is a super pleasant ridge walk away
Spot Raff on the ridge
Looking down on Falling Leaf and Snow Moon
Looking back along the ridge
The colourful, lake-filled view to the north and northeast was mesmerizing throughout
Awesome summit view. 6 lakes were visible on this side and 2 more around the corner
Mount Gould
Distant Heaven's Peak
Cracker Lake looking much better with the Sun shining on it
View to the southwest
Close-up of Heaven's Peak
Couldn't get enough of this view
Raff at the summit
Yellow Mountain. Every mountain we've ascended in Glacier is a favourite!!!
Part of the Grinnell Glacier, known as The Salamander (I think)
Raff is happy to be at the summit
Had to get a shot of Raff with the view to the north
Heading back
Usually I hate clouds, but the ones here were pretty cool
The north side of the summit block is very steep!
Raff descends the crux
A couple of awkward moves, but nothing too serious
Almost back at the lakes, this random chunk of red argillite caught my attention
Remaining snow made some of the descent fast and easy
More argillite at the lake
Raff is back at the intersection of the two lakes
Second last look at the summit block of Allen
Last look at Allen and Schwab Falls
Raff points out the super easy route we could have taken!
The End
